A pecan-graham cracker crust is filled with luxuriously silky, cinnamon spiced sweet potato cheesecake for a fun, colorfully delicious holiday twist on this classis dessert!
When I saw this Easy Vegan Cheesecake with Purple Sweet Potatoes from my good friend, total culinary rock star and constant source of inspiration, Eva Kosmas Flores, I just knew I had had to riff off the recipe right away. As in… absolutely immediately! I mean…. that purple-licious color clearly has my name all over it!
Why this Recipe Works
- Save time! No need to bake in a water bath.
- Slow roasting the sweet potatoes! It caramelizes their natural sugars, bringing out their natural sweetness.
- All the flavors! Both mascarpone & cream cheese, brown sugar & maple syrup, plus vanilla and spices all create luxuriously silky filling loaded with irresistible fall flavors.
- WOW your guests this Holiday season! Using purple sweet potatoes creates the prettiest purple cake for a fun and festive spin on the classic cheesecake.
This cheesecake is almost as good to look at as it is to eat.
Food as art I say!
How to Make this Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Pulse crust ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and parbake on a spring foam pan. Roast sweet potato and scoop out filling. Combine with the rest of the filling ingredients and in the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer, until smooth. Spread the filling and bake cake, top with garnish of your choice.
Don’t be intimidated by making a cheesecake! I call my food rustic. Which means that cracks in my cheesecake are totally OK. Which then means they’re so much easier to make cause there’s no need for a making a water bath, also know as a ban marie.
Cooks Tips
- If you really need to save more time, buying a pre-made crust is OK
- Sweet potato can be roasted and chopped up to 3 days in advance and kept in the fridge.
- Make sure your cream cheese, mascarpone and eggs have time to come to room temp before using (at least 30 minutes out of the fridge).
- Let the cheesecake cool completely for clean slicing.
- Cheesecake needs at least 4 hours and up to overnight in the fridge to set.
Stoked on cheesecake?! Me too! Check out my No-Bake Mascarpone Cheesecake, No-Bake Cheesecake, and my Amaretto & Mascarpone Cheesecake!
Frienly heads up that this sweet potato cheesecake is a bit of a riff on my Amaretto & Mascarpone Cheesecake. Minus the amaretto, plus the sweet potato and spices, a few other tweaks but its got that magical cream cheese & mascarpone
Purple Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan-Graham Cracker Crust
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Pecan Crust
- 10 graham crackers
- ½ cup pecans
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Purple Sweet Potato Filling
- 1 pound 3 ounces purple sweet potatoes
- 16 ounces of mascarpone
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
For Garnish
- 2 tablespoons of nuts for garnish such as pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts or walnuts.
- fresh berries or pomegranate arils
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Prick sweet pots with a fork and wrap in aluminum foil. Transfer pouches to a baking sheet and roast until a knife inserted into the potatoes meet no resistance, about 1-1 ½ hours. Remove potatoes from oven and set-aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the skin and chop the sweet potato into roughly 1-inch cubes and set aside. Lower oven to 350 F degrees.
- For the crust, place the graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until small crumbs are beginning to form. Add the pecans, salt and sugar, spices, and melted butter and pulse until incorporated.
- Press the graham cracker almond mixture into the bottom and sides of the spring form pan. Chill the crust in the fridge for 15 minutes, and then bake for 10. Allow the crust to cool completely.
- In the bowl of a food processor or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the mascarpone, cream cheese, vanilla extract, sugar, spices and a pinch of salt. Run the processor, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then running again, adding slowly adding the eggs and running the until all ingredients are mixed together. Add flesh to bowl and continue and continue beating with whisk attachment until all is combined.
- Pour the sweet potato cheesecake mixture over the cooled crust. Bake at 350 for 1 hr. and 5-15min. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight to set. (Cheesecake can be stored, chilled, for up to 3 days).
- Garnish with nuts, berries, edible flowers or other toppings of your choice.
Notes
- If you really need to save more time, buying a pre-made crust is OK
- Sweet potato can be roasted and chopped up to 3 days in advance and kept in the fridge.
- Make sure your cream cheese, mascarpone and eggs have time to come to room temp before using (at least 30 minutes out of the fridge).
- Let the cheesecake cool completely for clean slicing.
- Cheesecake needs at least 4 hours and up to overnight in the fridge to set.
Want More Potato Recipes?
Looking for potato recipes? Especially purple ones – the antioxidant-rich members of the potato family. Sweet potatoes included.
- No-Mayo Potato Salad – A bright, herbaceous potato salad tossed in smoky paprika vinaigrette.
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes – Boiled, flattened, then roasted until golden brown and ultra crispy – the best of all potato worlds.
- Hasselback Potato Gratin – The best of creamy potato gratin and crispy hasselback potatoes in one epic mash-up.
- Greek Potatoes – braised in a lemony-garlicky broth, then roasted until golden — one pan, two cooking methods, extraordinary results.
- Giant Potato Latke – Baked until golden and crispy with a tender center.
- Red, White and Blue Potato Salad – a very 4th of July friendly potato salad with goat cheese vinaigrette that happens to be mayo-free.
- Potato Soup – Creamy, comforting, and vibrantly pink.
- Sweet Potato Fries – Extremely crispy oven-baked sweet potato fries served with spicy chipotle aioli.
- Sweet Potato Salad – A colorful sweet potato salad with feta and a bright maple-lime vinaigrette.
- Purple Sweet Potato Pie – A vibrant purple twist on classic Southern sweet potato pie with gingersnap crust and pecan streusel.
If ya tried it, I'd love to hear – leave a comment below and tag me on IG, @danielagerson, so I can see too!
There's a whole lot more seasonal recipes and colorful produce guides waiting for ya on the site.
Let's make waves in the kitchen.
This is so gorgeous, WOW
So excited to bake this cake.
Thanks for sharing 👍👍👍😘💜
You are too kind Jacquie!!! Absolute pleasure and I'll happily make this for ya sometime :)!
This looks fab! How did you get it so purple?
It’s the purple sweet potatoes (not potatoes!) and a teeny tiny bit of editing.. 💜💜😘
Wonder if one can use Butterfly Pea powder to get the purple that vibrant, without it affecting the taste? Has anyone tried it?
Haven't tried it yet but do often add beet puree to my food - from bread and pasta doughs to hummus, for the fab color it provides while often barely affecting the taste. If you try butterfly pea powder please do let me know :).
I guess my potatoes were not purple enough, it looks more "barely" lilac.... Really disappointed as I've prepped to make 2 for summer feast with my home grown potatoes n wanted to show off my veggies this summer.
Did you use food colouring? What have I done wrong?
Hi Teresa... nope I didn't use food coloring... just to double check, did you use purple sweet potatoes? Purple sweet potatoes are a much darker, more intense purple than purple potatoes. Did you enjoy the taste? Def want to help ya with the color. Thx!
The cracks look lovely!
Hehehe thank ya Lydia! I like thinking of them as imperfectly perfect :).
I think this is my potluck contribution next week! I made Turkey for dinner tonight, with chopped purple potatoes and carrots on the side. It was delicious! This being my first time to use these potatoes, I was elated to see the vibrant purple when I cut into them! Purple is my favorite color. I love the organic feel of the cracks in the top, and the contrast of the pistachios. This will be a blast to make and go with my purple santa hat too 💜😉🎅💜 I'll let you know how it goes next week!
So stoked to hear that Jackie! Purple is my very FAV color too! Thanks so much for the sweet feedback and so sorry for the delay! I'd love to hear how it went :).
Thanks you for this delicious sweet purple potato chescake. I always are looking for new recipes. It's very simple. Thankfully Sylvia
Absolute pleasure Sylvia! Excited for you to make this sweet purple potato cheesecake and please let me know how it goes :).